Jul 29, 2011

Three years ago, Sophie Mercer discovered that she was a witch. It's gotten her into a few scrapes. Her non-gifted mother has been as supportive as possible, consulting Sophie's estranged father--an elusive European warlock--only when necessary. But when Sophie attracts too much human attention for a prom-night spell gone horribly wrong, it's her dad who decides her punishment: exile to Hex Hall, an isolated reform school for wayward Prodigium, a.k.a. witches, faeries, and shapeshifters.

By the end of her first day among fellow freak-teens, Sophie has quite a scorecard: three powerful enemies who look like supermodels, a futile crush on a gorgeous warlock, a creepy tagalong ghost, and a new roommate who happens to be the most hated person and only vampire student on campus. Worse, Sophie soon learns that a mysterious predator has been attacking students, and her only friend is the number-one suspect.

As a series of blood-curdling mysteries starts to converge, Sophie prepares for the biggest threat of all: an ancient secret society determined to destroy all Prodigium, especially her.

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I've had Hex Hall on my WL on PBS for ever, so I was pretty excited when it was loaned to me on my kindle. I zipped right through it, there was some predictability but I still enjoyed it.

Most of the YA books out right now all have the same formula, and Hex Hall does not waver from what is obviously working considering YA is hugely popular right now. It was a good story with the witches, werewolves and the such all intermingling in a private school, but this formula is starting to grate on me a bit. Sophie's love interest is dating the most beautiful witch at Hex Hall who hates Sophie but he always seems to be there to help her out (hmm..sound familiar), and they are drawn to each other even if it seems like they don't get along, which actually kinda is like when in grade school a boy pulls your pony tail to show he likes you. So the romance was not doing anything for me. Though I did love the slight WTF moment when we discover something about loverboy. It made their romance get a little more interesting to me. He always did "seem fishy" to me.

Hex Hall lacks in some ways, but hits a slam dunk in others. Too me the good outweighed the bad.

That was the whole reason she was sent to Hex Hall, a reform school for delinquent Prodigium (aka witches, shapeshifters, and fairies). But that was before she discovered the family secret, and that her hot crush, Archer Cross, is an agent for The Eye, a group bent on wiping Prodigium off the face of the earth. Turns out, Sophie’s a demon, one of only two in the world—the other being her father. What’s worse, she has powers that threaten the lives of everyone she loves. Which is precisely why Sophie decides she must go to London for the Removal, a dangerous procedure that will destroy her powers.

But once Sophie arrives she makes a shocking discovery. Her new friends? They’re demons too. Meaning someone is raising them in secret with creepy plans to use their powers, and probably not for good. Meanwhile, The Eye is set on hunting Sophie down, and they’re using Archer to do it. But it’s not like she has feelings for him anymore. Does she?

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I enjoyed Demonglass way more than Hex Hall. If you read my review above you know that I had a problem with the romance in Hex Hall. In Hex Hall we learn something major about Sophie's love interest, and I thought it made for a better relationship dynamic in Demonglass. It made for more action and movement in the story.

In Demonglass we learn more about what Sophie is and how big of a deal it is. We learn more on the background of Hex Hall and how it came to be. All together a lot more interesting.

Demonglass left readers with a cliffhanger. Yeah, and a doobie of one to boot. Demonglass solidified my want to finish off the series.

Jul 24, 2011

Grace Mills craves being perfect almost as much as she craves raspberry scones. In fact, her life would be perfect if only she could lose ten more pounds, if only the pastry café she co-owns with her sister would turn a profit, if only the hottest guy at the gym would look her way...

And then "if only" comes true. Grace is suddenly straddling two lives: an alternate reality where she's a size two, weathergirl celebrity and being chased by the hot guy. Only Mr. Gorgeous isn't very nice.

In her other life, she's starting to realize her sister is less than happy running the family café, and hunky Carlos, the gym's janitor, seems to have a secret crush on her. Maybe there's more to him than meets the eye...

Grace is living two lives and it's beginning to cost her. Is there a way to pick one...that's perfect?

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Craving Perfect is the perfect fun beach read.I enjoyed it, thoughthe whole time traveling/warped alternate
life thing made no sense.Amazing how

writing
and story is great that you throw out and ignore the obvious.

Grace is warped into her alternative life where she is Callie,
a news anchor who happens to be dating her secret hunky crush.She becomes Callie while exercising at a fast
speed on a treadmill at her gym.Yeah,
that’s where the question marks start coming up. We get no explanation how this
happens, but I just went along because I liked where Liz Fichera was taking
me.In her real life as Grace she has
gotten the attention of Carlos, the janitor at her gym.He seems like such a genuine lovable nice
character, though he might be a little to romantic considering he said I Love
you too quickly for my liking.A bit
unrealistic, especially these days when being a commitment-phobe is ordinary and
expected.So not 2011, if you know what
I mean.I really enjoyed the lessons
Grace learns during these time warps.Her mind is opened to so much, and she sees things clearly when in Callie’s
shoes.

Craving Perfect left a smile on my face, and we get two
recipes to boot.My husbands the cook
around here and coincidentally I was asking him to try making sopapillas and
yep, you guessed it one of those recipes was for sopapillas.

Jul 22, 2011

In the beginning they were a group of nine. Nine aliens who left their home planet of Lorien when it fell under attack by the evil Mogadorian. Nine aliens who scattered on Earth. Nine aliens who look like ordinary teenagers living ordinary lives, but who have extraordinary, paranormal skills. Nine aliens who might be sitting next to you now.

The Nine had to separate and go into hiding. The Mogadorian caught Number One in Malaysia, Number Two in England, and Number Three in Kenya. All of them were killed. John Smith, of Paradise, Ohio, is Number Four. He knows that he is next.

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I am Number Four belongs with the select few that have been great enough to capture my attention that I do nothing else but read until the last page. Yep, I finished this in one day and was jealous of those already reading or had read The Power of Six, the sequel. I love the relationships in this book with the exception of Four and Sarah. I thought they were just okay, nothing sizzlin there for me. Now Four and Henri's was endearing and captured my attention. The plot line is interesting and entertaining, and action is kick ass. A definite must read!

Jul 18, 2011

Everybody knows everybody in The Hollows, a quaint, charming town outside of New York City. It’s a place where neighbors keep an eye on one another’s kids, where people say hello in the grocery store, and where high school cliques and antics are never quite forgotten. As a child, Maggie found living under the microscope of small-town life stifling. But as a wife and mother, she has happily returned to The Hollows’s insular embrace. As a psychologist, her knowledge of family histories provides powerful insights into her patients’ lives. So when the girlfriend of her teenage son, Rick, disappears, Maggie’s intuitive gift proves useful to the case—and also dangerous.

Eerie parallels soon emerge between Charlene’s disappearance and the abduction of another local girl that shook the community years ago when Maggie was a teenager. The investigation has her husband, Jones, the lead detective on the case, acting strangely. Rick, already a brooding teenager, becomes even more withdrawn. In a town where the past is always present, nobody is above suspicion, not even a son in the eyes of his father.

“I know how a moment can spiral out of control,” Jones says to a shocked Maggie as he searches Rick’s room for incriminating evidence. “How the consequences of one careless action can cost you everything.”

As she tries to reassure him that Rick embodies his father in all of the important ways, Maggie realizes this might be exactly what Jones fears most. Determined to uncover the truth, Maggie pursues her own leads into Charlene’s disappearance and exposes a long-buried town secret—one that could destroy everything she holds dear. This thrilling novel about one community’s intricate yet fragile bonds will leave readers asking, How well do I know the people I love? and How far would I go to protect them?

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Fragile is my first Lisa Unger book but it certainly won't be my last. Not the perfect thriller/mystery, yet it was entertaining.

What didn't make it perfect in my opinion:

1. Too many different voices throughout. It slowed down the pace, and I couldn't connect with all of them, so I wasn't interested in reading a chapter from some.

2. The aduction from long ago is more entertaining than what's currently going on with the disappearance of Charlene. I preferred discovering what happened years ago.

Aside from those two things I thought Maggie was a great character as well as her son, Rick. I liked that Rick fits the stereotypical teenage rebellion, but Ms. Unger could somehow show the true Rick. I along with Maggie quickly jumped to think Rick had nothing to do with his girlfriends disappearance (to find out if he did your just gonna have to read the book ;)).

As I mention above the pace would slow down because of all the characters being introduced, but it was still a quick read at a little over 300 pages. I'm glad that there wasn't much filler in between the meat of the story.

Fragile is a entertaining read. I now have a back log of Lisa Unger books to get through. :)

Jul 15, 2011

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

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I knew I wanted to read Divergent as soon as the reviews started coming out. I was reading reviews with "Best book ever", "Wow", and bloggers were even comparing it to The Hunger Games. The Hunger Games, really? Now it ain't no Hunger Games in my opinion, but it's still pretty darn good.

In Divergent there are five factions that at the age of 16 you must choose from Candor, Abnegation, Dauntless, Amity, and Erudite. Beatrice (Tris), our main protagonist who was born into Abnegation decides to leave her family and chooses Dauntless. This is where all the action happens, and there is definitely action. The plot moves up and down with some non stop action to a way slower pace. At times it was kind of hard to take the shift, and when the action would slow down I would find myself putting it down for awhile. It didn't take long to pick it back up though because I thought the story was good. I wanted to know what the heck was going on in Dauntless. How exciting for author Veronica Roth to have hit a homerun on her debut novel.

My only real dislike in Divergent is kind of a biggie. I really wasn't feeling the romance between Four and Tris. I liked Four but there was no chemistry between him and well anyone in my opinion. He was a very closed off character, and the couple of times Roth wanted to show his softer side I feel it didn't come off real. I can't wait to read the next books, but it's because of the action and to find out what happens between the fractions not because of the romance, though I would have liked some that felt genuine.

Divergent is worth the read, and I hardly doubt anyone will close the book thinking it sucked. This is a book you can feel comfortable spending your money on.

Pick any book from your readathon pile and write a fake synopsis based solely on the cover. The synopsis does not have to be related to the actual book at all, just the pretty, pretty cover.

In the wood behind Becky's house is a beautiful pond that holds magical powers. Becky always thought of herself as pretty and well dressed with her collared shirts and sweater vests but when she looks into the pond and see's a image of her in a beautiful dress and looking gorgeous she realizes she's doing it all wrong. Can this mysterious magical pond help Becky be the best her and snag the guy she has had a crush on for years or is she destined to be plain boring Becky who will die a spinster with 20 cats.

Miranda Bloom has scored an adorable, lacrosse-playing boyfriend, Dex McConnell, and an awesomely easy summer job looking after a ten year old mini-genius, Amelia. This summer is going to be sweet...

Then reality puts the brakes on everything. Though Dex and Miranda are official, she feels like he's keeping secrets-secrets that may have to do with his fashion model ex-girlfriend. Meanwhile, Amelia is harder to figure out than advanced trigonometry. How can they bond if all she does is practice the piano? Plus Miranda's mom just invited her to live in London with her. Living across the pond would be great, but can she really leave Geek High and Dex?

Looks like Miranda has a secret of her own...

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Another good solid addition to the Geek High series. Summer of the Geek doesn't only focus on Miranda and Dex's relationship, there's also a 10 year old piano prodigy and fellow genius Amelia that Miranda baby sits. I think Miranda and Dex take a back table to Amelia and her situation. I don't know if I was really feeling it, because I wanted more Dex.

Not a standout but good. Seemed somewhat like a filler book. Next Geek High book , Revenge of the Geek seems more promising.

Jul 8, 2011

Life on the tiny island of Guernsey has just become a whole lot harder for fifteen-year-old Cat Rozier. She’s gone from model pupil to murderer, but she swears it’s not her fault. Apparently it’s all the fault of history.

A new arrival at Cat’s high school in 1984, the beautiful and instantly popular Nicolette inexplicably takes Cat under her wing. The two become inseparable—going to parties together, checking out boys, and drinking whatever liquor they can shoplift. But a perceived betrayal sends them spinning apart, and Nic responds with cruel, over-the-top retribution.

Cat’s recently deceased father, Emile, dedicated his adult life to uncovering the truth about the Nazi occupation of Guernsey—from Churchill’s abandonment of the island to the stories of those who resisted—in hopes of repairing the reputation of his older brother, Charlie. Through Emile’s letters and Charlie’s words—recorded on tapes before his own death— a “confession” takes shape, revealing the secrets deeply woven into the fabric of the island . . . and into the Rozier family story.

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I'm not a fan of writing negative reviews but The Book of Lies is what it is. After finishing The Book of Lies I've decided never to read a book that takes place in Guernsey again. I was beaten over the head throughout this book about how gossipy and small Guernsey is. How everyone knows everyone and is in every one's business. It got tiresome quickly. Guernsey, Guernsey, Guernsey! To add a positive I can say with extreme honesty that the author did major research on Guernsey, its history and present. She knows Guernsey.

The Book of Lies has two protagonist, one is a teenage girl, Cat, living in Guernsey circa the 80's the other is her uncle Charlie who speaks through letters written to his younger brother Emile during the occupation, who happens to be Cat's dad. Through most of the book I couldn't find the link between Cat and her uncle, and kept wondering why we were getting both their stories. In the end the link wasn't all that big of a deal anyways, in my opinion. With the letters we are reading from Charlie to Emile there are so many french phrases that slow down the pace if you can't read french. I took Spanish in school so I would find myself getting frustrated. Story is plain slow, and it doesn't grow on you.

As for the characters, Cat is a sociopath and Charlie is a troublemaker who caused many of problems during the war for his family. Someone else was to blame for the biggest thing that happen to his family during the occupation. It is this big revelation that didn't have that huge impact the author was going for, I think. I enjoyed the side players more in The Book of Lies.

I didn't like The Book of Lies, it wasn't the writing, it was the characters and the story line. There is an audience for it, it's just not me.

Can you ever really know if love is true? And if it is, should you stop at anything to get it?

Two decades ago, Erin Edwards was sure she’d already found the love of her life: Nate Lawson. Her first love. The one with whom she shared everything--dreams of the future, of children, plans for forever. The one she thought she would spend the rest of her life with. Until one terrible night when Erin made a mistake Nate could not forgive and left her to mourn the relationship she could never forget or get over.

Today, Erin is contentedly involved with a phenomenal guy, maneuvering a successful and exciting career, and raising a great daughter all on her own. So why would the name “Nate Lawson” be the first thing to enter her mind when her boyfriend asks her to marry him?

In the wake of the proposal, Erin finds herself coming unraveled over the past, and the love she never forgot. The more she tries to ignore it and move on, the more it haunts her.

Always Something There to Remind Me is a story that will resonate with any woman who has ever thought of that one first love and wondered, “Where is he?” and “What if…?” Filled with Beth Harbison’s trademark nostalgia humor and heart, it will transport you, and inspire you to believe in the power of first love.

Way back in high school, golden boy Cade Gallari publicly revealed he'd slept with "fat girl" Ava Spencer to win a bet. Now a decade older and a head turner with her own concierge business, Ava isn't the gullible dreamer she once was— and she plans to prove it when Cade, hotter than ever, breezes back into town with an offer she can't refuse.

A documentary film producer, Cade is shooting a movie about the mysterious mansion Ava inherited. And he wants her as his personal concierge. She's certainly professional enough to be at his beck and call without giving him everything he wants. Like another shot at having her in his bed. But Ava doesn't count on Cade's determination. Because he's never gotten over her— and he's not above playing dirty to score a second chance at a red–hot future…

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Everything about the synopsis of Playing Dirty sounded like a bucket of fun. I did enjoy Playing Dirty, but some things didn't work for me.

The biggest thing in a romance are the characters. Is there something about their interactions that make you giddy? Giddiness is a huge sign of an author hitting it right on the dot in the romance genre for me. In Playing Dirty some of Cade and Ava's flirtations left me uncomfortable. I just wasn't feeling the vibe between them so much. I thought as much as Ava would talk about how much Cade has hurt and humiliated her she actually got over it pretty quickly. Cade was a alright love interest but I guess I was expecting more. Maybe a reformed bad boy? He actually comes across as a puppy dog. Some people like puppy dogs though, so that's all preference. Ava talked a lot of crap, but did not back it up. She was kind of weak when it came to Cade, though she did not do much chasing. That was all Cade.

The element of danger in Playing Dirty also didn't fit in the story well. It seemed added in. There is a guy looking for lost jewels, it was distracting, and when the author would jump back to that part I would be "O'yeah" forgot about the bad guy. My favorite was the interaction between Ava and her two best friends. I liked them and their bond with each other. I actually haven't read the two previous books that pertained to Ava's best friends but I will be on the lookout for them.

Though there were problems for me with Playing Dirty I think people who have followed this series will probably enjoy it more.

Jul 2, 2011

In the vein of Jennifer McMahon’s Promise Not to Tell and The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold comes Love Lies Bleeding, a haunting story about the lengths to which people will go to keep their pasts buried. Jess McConkey (aka award-winning author Shirley Damsgaard) enthralls with her ingenious blending of family drama and gripping mystery. Suspenseful and absolutely chilling, Love Lies Bleeding grabs hold of the reader from page one, as a young woman whose golden life is shattered by unexpected violence is sent to a small, secluded lake town in Northern Minnesota to recover—and soon suspects the town’s eccentric residents are hiding more than one truly frightening secret.

The Red Garden introduces us to the luminous and haunting world of Blackwell, Massachusetts. Hoffman offers a transforming glimpse of small-town America, presenting us with some three hundred years of passion, dark secrets, loyalty, and redemption in a web of tales.

From the town’s founder, a brave young woman from England who has no fear of blizzards or bears, to the young man who runs away to New York City, the characters in The Red Garden are extraordinary and vivid: a young wounded Civil War soldier who is saved by a neighbor, a woman who meets a fiercely human historical character, a poet who falls in love with a blind man, a mysterious traveler who comes to town in the year when summer never arrives. At the center of everyone’s life is a garden where only red plants can grow, and where the truth can be found by those who dare to look. The Red Garden is as unforgettable as it is moving.

Jul 1, 2011

It begins like a flat-footed love story: Young single mother Holly Barrett is swept away by a Superman-handsome Brit she meets on a bus. A whirlwind romance ensues, and even Barrett's 5-year-old daughter is charmed. Mom recklessly allows the enigmatic dreamboat stranger, Jack Dane, to move into her coastal New England house. But when love goes bad-- and you just know it will -- this sneak-up-on-you page-turner packs a suspensful wallop that will chill your soul. Morgan, a Bostonian now living in London, smartly roots her debut in a disturbing crime that begs the question: How well do we ever know a lover's secrets? Haunting.

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Tainted is a smorgasbord of genres because it had a little of everything. It was suspenseful, scary, romantic and a thriller. In the end it might have wanted to be too much.

In the first half of Tainted I was really on board. I was liking and understanding the main character, Holly. I liked her grandpa, her friends, and daughter. I was even liking the her daughters daddy, though in the beginning I thought he was a ass. I was feeling trepidatious about Jack, but from reading the back cover I knew not to be fooled by him. As I was saying I was into Tainted, and I was letting that sucker down for anything, UNTIL Holly started losing all common sense, and everybody was getting fooled. Almost like the author got lost with the storyline and then just did whatever to get it back even losing all characteristics she gave her characters in the first half. She tried to fit so much that it just didn't feel right. The ending was alright, but I felt this could have been executed better.

Check it out from your library if you feel the need/want to read Tainted.